Creating a "culture free" cockpit sounds impossible because we need to
have a "way of doing things" in the cockpit. To be culture free sounds
like we would do things differently everytime we sat in the front end of
the airplane. The goal should be to have a culture that promotes the
kind of behaviour that optimizes safety. In the past we have glorified
cockpit cultures that were definitely unsafe, when we promoted the
rugged individuality of the captain, and the unquestioned obedience of
the subordinates. So the challenge for CRM is to change cockpit culture
to one where there is more open communication etc etc.
But you could also mean by "culture free" cockpit, the concept that as
we enter the cockpit we leave behind our broader cultural baggage, ie.
our different notions about authority, prejudices, or chauvinisms that
might be part of our background. We might wish for everyone to walk in
and assume the standard role of Captain, FO, FE, or FA regardless of the
gender, age, nationality, or appearance of the other people we are
working with. This is probably a meaning for "culture free" cockpit
that we might see as an ideal and might be a concept to promote.
Gerry Binnema
Regional Avaition Safety Officer
Transport Canada